Flexible suspension.



PATENTED APR. 9, 1907.

W. E. NICKERSON. FLEXIBLE SUSPENSION.

APPLIGATION- FILED AUCnM. 1906.

- weighing-weight, or the like UNITED STATES PATENT ion.

WILLIAM E. NICKERSON, or CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, aSsIcNoR TOAUTOMATIC, WEIGHING MACHINE COMPANY, or NEW YORK, N. Y., A

CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 9, 1907.

Application filed August 14, 1906. Serial No. 330,567.

To all whom it n'mq concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM E. NICKER- SON, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex andState of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Flexible Suspensions, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention is intended to provide an arrangement for suspending ascale-beam from its support or a scale-pan, wei hing-bucket,

om a scalebeam, which will take the place of the'knifeedge suspensioncommonly employed heretofore and will be free from the disadvanta esattendant upon the use of such knife-e ge suspensionssuch, for exam le,as result from wear, rubbing friction, liability to displacement, andclogging with accumulated dust and dirt.

My improved suspension, briefly described, comprises two or moreflexible strips or lami nze, each connected at one end to the scalebeamand at its other end to the part which supports or is supported by saidbeam, said strips being crossed at a substantial angle between theirpoints of attachment and arranged edgewise at the point of crossinga.6., in planes which intersect in a line perpendicular to the plane ofmovement of the beam. Thus the supporting and supported members are notonly connected, but also made ca able of a relative turnin movement inthe atter plane by reason 0 the flexibility of the strips, othermovements being prevented by the rigidity of the strips in thedirections of their length and width, and the axis of the said turningmovement is confined to the point of crossing of the stri s, preferablby means of an additional part ereinafter escribed.

My suspension is particularly adapted for use in automatic weighingapparatus, the parts of which are subjected in use to more or less shockor jar and are covered sooner or later with accumulated particles of thematerial handled; but it may be applied to any kind or'type ofscale-beam and, in fact, to

I many other kinds of apparatus in which a pivotal movement has to berovided for, being herein illustrated and escribed as applied to ascale-beam of elementary form having arms of equal lengths and carryingsimilar scale-pans at its ends.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of ascale-beam and scalepans embodying my improvements in their preferredform, one of the side bars of the scale-beam being removed in order toillustrate the construction more clearly. Fig. 2 is a plan view of thecentral portion of the beam, the suspension-strips being shown intransverse section. Fig. 3 is a section on the line m :z; in Fig. 1looking toward the right, and Fig. 4 is a detached view of thesuspension proper on an enlarged scale.

In the drawings, the scale-beam is shown as composed of two side bars 2,connected and spaced apart by means of tie-rods 3 and as suspended atits center from a fixed support 4 by means of my suspension. This beamcarries at each end a scale-pan 5, also connected with the beam by meansof my suspension.

Referring first to the connection between the beam and the support 4,the numerals 6 6 designate two similar flexible and elastic stripsusually made of thin spring-steel, each strip being connected at itsupper'end with the support 4 and at its lower end with the scale-beamand having its width perpendicular to the plane in which the beam isdesigned to turn. Said strips are located between the side bars 2 andare crossed between their ends, being thus brought closetogether andarranged edge to edge at the point of crossing, and their attachedends-are preferably strengthened, as by riveting small metallic plates 7to the opposite sides thereof. The upper ends of said strips are shownas clamped, respectively, to the flat outer ends of two arms 8 8,extending downwardly from a,

collar 9, which is carried by a pin 10, projecting laterally from thesupport 4, said arms 8 being located at diflerent points on the collar 9with respect to its length, so as to provide for the crossing of thestrips 6 in edgewise re lation, as described, and the flat ends of saidarms are made to form the same angle with each other as do the stripsthemselves, which is preferably a right angle. In order to secure thestrips 6 to said flat ends, each of the latter may be provided with apin 11, adapted to pass through a perforation in the u er end of thecorresponding stri and p'rovl ed with a nut 12, between which and saidarm the strip may thus be clamped tightly.

13 13 represent cotterpins passed, respectively, through the ends of thepins 11 to prevent the nuts 12 from becoming unscrewed after they havebeen set up. The lower ends of the strips 6 are secured to the beam,according to the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, bypassing the stiffened lower end of each strip between two parallel rods14, extending horizontally from one of the side bars 2 to the other andlocated in the proper position to receive said strip, and then insertinga pin 15 through the end of the strip beneath said rods 14 in osition toengage the same on both sides 0 the strip. The connection between eachend of the beam and the corresponding scale-pan is constructed in aprecisely similar manner, except that the upper ends of the strips 6carry the pins 15, which are thus supported by the rods 14, and theirlower ends are clamped to the ends of the arms 8 8 of the collar 9,which collar is inverted so that its arms point upwardly instead ofdownwardly and receives a pin 16, carried by the hanger of thecorresponding scale-pan 5.

In order to locate with exactness the fulcrum-axis of each suspension, Iprefer to provide abar 17 extendingl'rom side to side of the beam andlocated in the lowermost quadrant formed by the crossed strips 6, saidbar having inclined sides forming with each other a less angle than thatformed by the strips 6 and intersecting to form a sharp edge 18 at thepoint of crossing of said strips. This bar is preferably so arranged asto cause each strip to bow upward slightly, as shown in Fig. 4, so thatcontact between each strip and the upper edge of said bar is alwaysassured.

The bars 17 are so located that the edge 18 of the bar at the center ofthe beam is slightly above a straight line joining the edges 18 of theother bars, just as with the usual knifeedge suspension, the elevationof the central edge 18 being greater or less, according to the intendedstability of the beam, and after the parts are assembled, as abovedescribed, they are allowed to come to rest in their normal position,and each collar 9 is thenlocked to the pin 10, which it contains, as bymeans of aset screw 19, Fig. 2. All turningmovements except such asresult from the flexibility of the strips 6 are thus prevented. As thusconstructed the weight of the suspended part or parts is supported byand divided between the crossed strips 6, and while either strip byitself could bend at any point in its length between its stiffened ends,and thus provide for a turning movement of the suspended member about avariety of axes, both coincident and non-coincident with the width ofthe strip, yet the only axis coincident with the width of both stripsabout which said ing in a bodily displacement of the bar 17, and as suchdisplacement is effectively prevented by the engagement of the edge 18of said bar with both of the strips 6, acting in conjunction with thetension of said strips and the weight of the suspended parts, the resultis that the fulcrum-axis of the suspension is accurately limited to thepoint of crossing of the flexible strips. Any tendency to lateralmovement of the suspended member is resisted by the rigidity of thestrips 6 against edgewise movement; but as a further precaution againstsuch lateral movement the construction best shown in Fig. 2 may beemployed, in which are shown two fingers 20, carried by and projectingdownward from the support 4, one on each side of the scalebeam, to apoint opposite the axis of turning of the beam and provided exactlyopposite said axis with fine-pointed screws 21, which are adjusted sothat they are normally just out of contact with the side bars 2 of thebeam, thus limiting any possible lateral play of the latter in anobvious manner. It will be evident that the bar 17 in any one of thesuspensions may be located in either the upper or the lower quadrantformed by the crossed strips; but it is best located in the lowerquadrant, as shown, so as to present its sharp edge u permost andprevent the accumulation of ust and dirt upon it.

It is to be understood that the constructional details herein describedmay be greatly modified without departing from my invention,particularly in respect to the num ber of flexible strips employed andthe manner in which they are connected with the supporting members.

I claim as my invention 1. In a flexible suspension, the combinationwith supporting and supported members, of flexible strips connected attheir ends with said members respectively and crossed in edgewiserelation between their ends and means for confining the bending of saidstrips to a predetermined axis.

2. In a flexible suspension, the combination with supporting andsupported members of flexible strips connected at their ends with saidmembers respectively and crossed in edgewise relation between theirends, and means for locating the fulcrum-axis of the suspension at thepoint of crossing of said strips.

In a flexible suspension, the combina tion with supporting and supportedmembers of flexible strips connected at their ends with said membersrespectively and crossed in edgewise relation between their ends, andforming substantially a right angle with each other at the point ofcrossing.

4:. In a flexible suspension, the combination with supporting andsupported members of flexible strips connected at their ends with saidmembers respectively and crossed in edgewise relation between theirends, and a bar having a sharp edge in contact with said strips at theirpoint of crossing.

5. In a flexible suspension, the combina tion with supporting andsupported members of flexible strips connected at their ends with offlexible strips connected at their ends with said members res ectivelyand crossed in edgewise relation etween their ends, and means forlimiting lateral play of said members with respect to each other.

7. In a flexible suspension, the combination with supporting andsupported members of flexible strips connected at their ends with saidmembers respectively and crossed in edgewise relation between theirends, a bar having a sharp edge in contact with said strips at theirpoint of crossing, and arms carried by the sup orting member and havingbearing-pointsIocated on o posite edges of and adjacent to the supportemember and in line with the sharp edge of said bar.

8. The combination with a scale-beam of a collar comprising divergentarms having flat outer en s forming an angle with each other, flexiblestrips each secured at one end to one of said fiat ends, said stripsbeing crossed in edgewise relation between their ends, and connectionsbetween the other ends of said stri s and said beam.

'9. The combination with a scale-beam of a collar comprising divergentarms having flat outer ends forming an angle with each other, flexiblestrips each secured at one end to one of said flat ends, said stripsbeing crossed in edgewise relation between their ends, connectionsbetween the other ends of said strips and said beam, and a bar carriedby said beam and having a sharp edge in contact with said strips attheir point of crossing.

10. The combination with a scale-beam comprising two side bars spacedapart, of a coo crating member in suspensional relation wit saidscale-beam, and a suspension connecting said beam and member andcomprising flexible strips each secured at one end to said cooperatingmember and its other end to said beam, said strips being located betweensaid side bars and crossed in edgewise relation between their ends.

11. The combination with a scale-beam provided with horizontalcross-rods arranged in pairs, of a cooperating member in sus ensionalrelation with said scale-beam, an a suspension connecting said beam andmember comprising flexible strips having reinforced ends and eachsecured at one end to said cooperating member and provided at its otherend with a transverse pin engaging a pair of said cross-rods, saidstrips being crossed in edgewise relation between their ends, and a barlocated in one of the angles formed by the crossing of said stri s andhaving a sharp edge in contact with t e latter at their point ofcrossing.

12. The combination with a scale-beam comprising two side bars spacedapart and provided with horizontal cross-rods arranged in pairs, oi acooperatin member in suspensional relation with sai scale-beam, and asuspension connecting said beamand member and comprising flexible stripseach secured at one end to said cooperating member and provided at itsother end with a transverse pin engagin 'apair of said cross-rods, saidstri s being ocated. between said side bars an crossed in edge wiserelation between their ends, and a bar located between said side barsand in one of the angles formed by the crossing of said strips, said barhaving a sharp edge in contact with said strips at their point ofcrossing.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 8th day ofAugust, 1 906.

WILLIAM E. NIOKERSON.

Witnesses:

E. D. CHADWICK, OLIVER MrrcnELL.

